Jefferson County Sheriff's Office issues 'fact check' about ICE Denver social media post

DENVER — The Jefferson County Sheriff's Office (JCSO) took to social media on Thursday to "fact check" a recent post by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office in Denver.

On Wednesday afternoon, ICE Denver posted to X, asking the community for help in locating Jose Lopez-Hidalgo, 32, of Honduras. The agency said Lopez-Hidalgo was "released from Jefferson County without being turned over to ICE."

Court records show Lopez-Hidalgo was arrested on Saturday for driving under the influence (misdemeanor), driving under the influence per se (misdemeanor) and careless driving resulting in injury (traffic offense misdemeanor). He posted a $5,000 personal recognizance (PR) bond on Monday.

Nearly 24 hours later, the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office responded with a post of its own.

In the "fact check," the sheriff's office said it is not allowed to "directly turn over an inmate to any law enforcement agency without a judicially authorized warrant," citing Colorado law.

Local law enforcement agencies are limited in their interactions with ICE under state law. In January, the Scripps News Group spoke with several sheriff's offices in the Denver metro area, including Jefferson County, to ask about their policies regarding detainers. A detainer is a request for the sheriff's office to either notify ICE of the inmate's release or hold the inmate for up to an additional 48 hours.

The Denver Sheriff's Department (DSD) notifies ICE ahead of an inmate's release when it receives a request from ICE. The department said it notifies ICE via fax, which is ICE's requirement, according to a DSD spokesperson.

In both Jefferson and Douglas counties, the sheriff's offices notify ICE anytime a foreign-born inmate is booked into the jail. Then, upon ICE's request, the sheriff's offices will notify the federal agency when an inmate is beginning the release process.

In all of these cases, it is up to ICE to show up and take the individual into federal custody after they have been released from a local agency's custody.

• Read the full report from our Denver7 Investigates partners below

Denver7 Investigates

Denver7 Investigates: How CO law enforcement agencies respond to ICE detainers

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The Jefferson County Sheriff's Office said in its post that it received an order to release Lopez-Hidalgo at 11:52 a.m. According to the sheriff's office, an inmate must be released within six hours of when they are eligible, per Colorado law.

JCSO said it spoke with an ICE representative by phone at noon and informed them of Lopez-Hidalgo's release. The sheriff's office wrote in its post, "The ICE representative told us ICE would not be picking up Mr. Lopez-Hidalgo."

Lopez-Hidalgo was released from the Jefferson County Jail at 2:34 p.m.

"At no point did ICE respond to the jail to pick up Mr. Lopez-Hidalgo," the sheriff's office said.

The sheriff's office said it reached out to the ICE Denver office about the "misleading post."

"They made their position unmistakable: if we do not provide ICE extra time to coordinate inmate pickups from our facility, in violation of Colorado law, deceptive posts like yesterday’s will become the norm," JCSO wrote.

The sheriff's office concluded its post by saying it "respects and follows Colorado law. We will continue to follow the law and stand by the truth."